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Muckleford, VIC

Alternative Names

Wattle Flat

This goldfield (in an area also referred to as ‘Wattle Flat’) was opened up in November 1852 following a series of big alluvial rushes. Muckleford township was built along where the now Castlemaine-Maldon Road crosses Muckleford Creek. In 1855 there were 4,000 diggers at work, but by mid 1858 alluvial mining was on the wane. Large numbers of Chinese diggers continued to work small pockets of ground using horse-puddling appliances. Muckleford’s decline is typical of the kind of contraction that occurred after many rushes.